Texas A&M pays for devoting too much attention to stopping Buddy
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Any Texas A&M fans fearful of tuning out early and missing another historic comeback suffered for their loyalty Thursday night.
They endured the entirety of a second half in which their team never trailed by fewer than 11 points.
Second-seeded Oklahoma pounded third-seeded Texas A&M 77-63 in the Sweet 16, and Buddy Hield had a bigger role in the outcome than the box score suggests. Sure, the national player of the year favorite scored only a modest 17 points on 13 shots, but the defensive attention the Aggies paid him created all sorts of free space for his supporting cast to exploit.
Oklahoma guard Jordan Woodard was the primary benefactor as he continued to knock down shots like he did when the Sooners were at their peak in January, scorching Texas A&M for 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Freshman Christian James knocked down four open 3-pointers, forwards Ryan Spangler and Khadeem Lattin each scored 10 and point guard Isaiah Cousins had eight of Oklahoma’s 23 assists.
“We just tried to keep [Hield] from touching the ball as much as possible,” Texas A&M guard Alex Caruso said. “Their other players did a good job of playing off him. We might not have given them enough credit. Their two other guards and their bigs played really well.”
Oklahoma’s victory puts the Sooners one win away from their first Final Four appearance since 2002. On Saturday, they’ll face the winner of Oregon and Duke and whoever that is will no doubt face the same issue every opponent has this season against Oklahoma.
When facing a scorer as lethal as Hield, it creates a Buddy conundrum for opponents. Do they live with Hield exploding for 30 or more and try to limit the rest of the Sooners? Or do they do everything possible to keep the ball out of Hield’s hands even if it creates scoring opportunities for his teammates?
Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy favored the latter approach Thursday. He assigned versatile defender Alex Caruso to deny Hield the ball by face guarding him relentlessly and instructed the Aggies to blitz every ball screen for Hield too.
The drawbacks to that strategy were apparent throughout Oklahoma’s 39-13 surge to end the first half. Hield still shook free for an occasional back-door layup or open 3-pointer, and the rest of his teammates feasted on the driving lanes and free space Texas A&M’s tactics left them.
“Obviously we want Buddy to shoot the ball because he’s our shooter, but if they’re going to play him like that, you put him in the corner, spread the floor and go 4-on-4,” Spangler said. “It’s hard to guard us that way. And when he’s sitting over there being patient, he can make a quick move and we’ll find him on back cuts.”
Never was the specter of Hield more apparent than on a late first-half possession when he curled around a top-of-the-key ball screen and Caruso actually left Woodard wide open in the corner to double team the ball. Hield saw Caruso coming and whipped the ball to Woodard for an uncontested 3-pointer that extended Oklahoma’s lead to 16.
“I’m really happy for Jordan,” Hield said. “I told him earlier that when he does that, the whole game is open for everybody because they don’t know who to pick from. They want to keep denying me the whole game, but I just step up and he can drive baseline and make a play.”
Even though Oklahoma led by 19 points at halftime, the Sooners had no trouble keeping their focus. They reminded each other of what happened in Texas A&M’s last game when the never-say-die Aggies rallied from 12 down in the final 40 seconds of regulation and defeated Northern Iowa in double overtime.
“We knew they weren’t going to quit,” Spangler said. “We knew they were going to keep fighting.”
And fight Texas A&M did, but the Aggies never solved the Buddy conundrum. Therefore they’re going home two wins shy of their first Final Four and Oklahoma continues onward.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
